Summary

Patricia Anne is shocked but not surprised, when her sister Mary Alice hits the bank president over the head with her umbrella. If they hadn't been born at home, Patricia Anne would swear they'd been mixed up somewhere. Flashy, flirtatious, and on the lookout for rich husband number four, Mary Alice is a foot taller and twice the body weight of her sinsible sister, "Mouse," who's satisfied to stick with her longtime mate, good old reliable Fred. And this time, "Sister's" crazy behavior has landed them both in the Birmingham jail.

It all starts when the sisters jump at the chance to get filthy rich by joining their good friend Mitzi Phizer in an investment club-kind of a Beardstown Ladies group-a bunch of amateurs pooling their money and making brilliant stock choices. Patricia Anne's conservative investment choice is a thriving chain of HMOs. Mary Alice is already loaded, but she's hot on the tail of the Viagra craze and sure the smart money is going on related products.

But before Mitzi's club idea gets off the ground, the sisters discover that Mitzi's supposedly faithful husband Arthur appears to be involved in a little hanky-panky with a woman of unknown origin. The next thing they know, Arthur is accused of killing her. It's a nasty image that doesn't fit kind, gentle Arthur any more than that of cheating husband-even if he did have a sizeable motive for murder...spelled MONEY.

Despite the distractions of consoling her distraught daughter-in-law who claims her marriage is over, and telling Mary Alice to bug off with her calls about amorous Cedric, an Englishman with a pencil-thin mustache and a last hame Sister can't remember, Patricia Anne is doing her darnedes to shore up her hapless neighbors, Mitzi and Arthur. But when there is a suspicious fire in the neighborhood and Arthur is shot in a place that won't allow hime to sit down at his own murder trial, Patricia Anne knows she has to stand up for the poor fellow-and check out ev

Booklist Review

Mary Alice is a large, ladylike woman, even if she has buried three husbands and keeps revising her age downward. Her younger sister, Patricia Anne, tiny, brazen, on the far side of 60, has been contentedly married to the same man for decades. In a Birmingham, Alabama, world full of families who have known each other forever, the two sisters find themselves looking for the real culprit when Patricia Anne's longtime neighbor finds himself accused of murdering his first wife. In other events in this southern honey-flavored cozy, Patricia Anne finds her son's wife camped in her living room when her son strays and is coaxed into e-mail when her daughter moves to Warsaw; and Mary Alice lies outrageously about her age to impress a new British suitor. Woofer the dog tangles with a possum (and loses), old newspaper articles provide vital clues, and iced tea and food of all sorts figure mightily. --GraceAnne A. DeCandido

Publisher's Weekly Review

George's Southern Sisters mysteries, which launched in 1997 with the Agatha Award-winning Murder on a Girl's Night Out, feature two siblings, sensible Patricia Anne Hollowell and rich, erratic Mary Alice Crane. These lifelong residents of Birmingham, Ala., may be in their 60s, but they are still up for a lively bout of sleuthing. As this sixth series entry (after Murder Gets a Life) opens, Arthur Phizer, Patricia Anne's next-door neighbor of 40 years, is accused of murdering his ex-wife by poisoning her at a local restaurant. Patricia Anne can't believe that her mild-mannered neighbor is really a fiendish killer, so she determines to find out who is framing him for murder. Then someone tries to burn down Arthur's house, and a sniper shoots him in the buttocks. George has a sure touch for creating comedic dialogue and believable characters. Her predilection for filling the narrative with brand names can annoy, but this light, amusing romp of a mystery makes good use of the tradition of Southern eccentricity, exuding a properly cozy atmosphere and a nifty web of subplots and domestic complications. Author tour. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

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